Ravenbane

Great ideas, Adeon. Thanks for the response!

I'm definitely all for stepping up the protection of the Body Armor set, and you just gave me an idea. I really like the idea of something like a TI clone (power body armor, as you call it) but how about a toggle that does S/L defense instead of resist? Firstly, this differentiates it from TI and the other shields in the defender APPs, so that's nice. Secondly, it meshes nicely with the FF generator in Traps, the -to hit in Flash Arrow in TA, or any other +defense or -to hit powers in other primaries like Deflection Bubble, Hurricane, Radiation Infection, and Darkest Night. Of course, that risks making it THE choice for Defender APPs, but that's far from the biggest problem in the world.

I agree with you as far as hold>stun for the first power, but I tried to choose powers that weren't too high-tech, but either could work. I kinda thought something like a taser that holds, kinda like the power Malta Sappers have, would be kind of cool.

As far as Sleep Grenades I chose it because I'm fond of Mass Hypno on my level 50 defender; it's very helpful in drawing more aggro than we want to when mobs are close together. Another idea for the grenades could be to make the AoE web grenade you suggested, and then make possibly the 4th or 5th power an AoE stun grenade. Pair them up and you effectively have a group hold, which is nice.

My new suggestion:

1. Taser - (I'm sticking with this as a ST stun for the first power with the 2 AoE grenades later)
2. AoE Web Grenade power
3. "Powered Body Armor" - S/L defense toggle.
4. Gun Drone - I'm choosing this over LRM rocket because I can't help but think the Rocket is an overpowered choice for a Defender APP, plus a summon pet power would be unique to the defender APPs (short of going red side and choosing a patron pool).
5. Stun Grenade - AoE Disorient.

I only read the OP, but my husband and I have been talking about that a lot lately. We would LOVE to see the devs go back and revamp the old content, similarly to the changes mentioned in the OP (new posi TF, etc.) even if that means less new content for awhile. FWIW, I have spoken to many other players on global channels I belong to that feel this way as well.

With Trick Arrow and Traps for Primary sets and Archery, Assault Rifle and Dual Pistols for secondaries, there are now a lot more options for making a simply human Natural origin Defender since the addition of Ancillary Power Pools. Unfortunately, none of the Defender APPs really lend themselves to a continuation of that theme. Power isn't a bad choice, with most of the powers in the set being decidedly un-flashy, but I think with the aforementioned power sets, many people would be interested in something like a Gadget Mastery APP that borrows powers from Devices (ones that Traps hasn't already borrowed) and Munitions Mastery. I'm not about to imagine up new powers for this idea, though I would welcome anyone else's suggestions, and if the Devs ran with this idea it's be fabulous if they decided to come up with something shiny and new for it.

Suggested powers (just one idea, I know this isn't perfect):

Taser - Short-range ST disorient from Devices.
Body Armor - Auto S/L resist From Munitions Mastery.
Sleep Grenade - Ranged AoE minor smashing damage and foe sleep from Munitions Mastery.
Surveillance - Ranged ST -defense, -resist (all) from Munitions Mastery.
Cloaking Device - Toggle stealth and +defense with no movement penalty from Devices.
OR Targetting Drone - Toggle +to hit, +perception and +resist to to-hit debuff also from Devices.


The above suggestion is just a jumping-off point for more ideas. I definitely think Body Armor should stay, as all the other Defender APPs have some kind of defense or resist power for the player (I made it available at 41 like Munitions Mastery does as it is an Auto rather than a toggle and not as strong as the other shields). Crowd control, debuffs and other self-buffs are common in the other Defender APPs as well, hence my suggesting Sleep Grenade, Surveillance and the toggles from Devices. The toggles are also good as they shouldn't need to be repeatedly fired and can minimize re-draw for the weapons in the player's primary and secondary sets.

My biggest problem with my own suggestion is that I feel like the top power is a bit underwhelming, with the other Defender APPs having something more impressive like Telekinesis or Total Focus. I think some kind of high damage attack would be nice. Were Trip Mine not already in the Traps set I would suggest that, or Hand Grenades, but Assault Rifle has the M-30 Grenade. If we were to go with LRM rocket the entire APP would basically be the Blaster Munitions APP. Personally, if anyone comes up with a better suggestion for the level 47 power, I would cut Taser first and bump Sleep Grenade to one of the level 41 choices, and make one of the Devices toggles the power that opens at 44.

Thoughts, comments, ideas? I apologize if this has been brought up before but I did search and didn't find anything similar.

I can't log in either. I thought it was just talos island but other zones aren't working for me, either. My day off and my kid is napping, too. :-(

Alright, I think this is the final version. 44% melee defense, 45.2% ranged defense, and 43.7% AoE defense. And I managed to fit in Fighting, Medicine and the two powers from the APP I wanted.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Cy-ren: Level 50 Technology Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Martial Arts
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Medicine
Ancillary Pool: Weapon Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Storm Kick T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(3), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(3), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), T'Death-Dam%(7)
Level 1: Deflection RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(37), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(39), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(39), RedFtn-Def(46), RedFtn-EndRdx(46)
Level 2: Battle Agility S'dpty-Def(A), S'dpty-Def/Rchg(39), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx(40), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 4: True Grit Heal-I(A), Heal-I(7), Heal-I(15), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(42)
Level 6: Fly Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(17), Zephyr-ResKB(17)
Level 8: Crane Kick Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(9), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Mako-Dam%(13)
Level 10: Active Defense RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 12: Swift Flight-I(A)
Level 14: Focus Chi GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(15), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(25), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(31), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(31), GSFC-Build%(34)
Level 16: Health Heal-I(A)
Level 18: Crippling Axe Kick Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(19), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Mako-Dam%(25)
Level 20: Stamina EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Phalanx Fighting DefBuff-I(A)
Level 24: Against All Odds EndRdx-I(A)
Level 26: Dragon's Tail M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(27), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(27), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(29), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31)
Level 28: Boxing Acc-I(A)
Level 30: Tough Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(43), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(43), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Aegis-ResDam(46)
Level 32: Eagles Claw Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(33), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Mako-Dam%(34)
Level 35: Shield Charge M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(36), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(36), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(36), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 38: Weave S'dpty-EndRdx(A), S'dpty-Def(40), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx(42), S'dpty-Def/Rchg(42)
Level 41: Stimulant IntRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Aid Self IntRdx-I(A), Heal-I(45), Heal-I(45), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 47: Web Grenade Enf'dOp-Acc/Rchg(A), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob(48), Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx(48), Enf'dOp-Immob/Rng(48), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg(50), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob(50)
Level 49: Targeting Drone HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit



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I'm working on a build for my MA/SD scrapper (I've had her for awhile... she was originally MA/Regen but it bored me to tears). If I were to finish this very pricey IO build for her, which includes Tough and Weave, she would eventually hit the soft cap for melee defense (45.5% to be exact, with 36.9 and 36.6 defense for Ranged and AOE, respectively) with 32.9% S/L resist from Tough. That is one option.

On the other hand, I can drop the Fighting Pool and take the Medicine Pool for Aid Self. I can also take Hover or Combat Jumping (with a few slots for defense) with the third free slot. With this option, my position defense is 39% for melee, 29.7 for ranged and 30 for AoE. My S/L resistance drops to 15.6%. However, I will have a 39% HP heal with a 0.5 sec interrupt every 12.7 seconds.

My defense numbers without the Fighting pool are still significant, so I'm wondering if it's worth it to take the cut for the gain of a healing power. Is the answer always to go for the soft-cap? Last time I leveled a defense-based scrapper secondary was when perma-Elude was still around, so I'm more than a little rusty on this. Conceptually, the Medicine pool power animations fits very nicely for her, as she's a tech origin with cybernetics and gadgets, but so does being a badass melon-farmer that barely gets hit. :-)

If it helps my plan for this character is largely to solo or duo with my husband's DP blaster. If I'm ever in a larger team, I have no intention of playing pseudo-tanker unless it was absolutely necessary, and I don't plan on soloing AVs.

Thanks in advance!

Ooh! Another DXP weekend? I have been a good little student lately but I might have to get Bella closer to 50 while the gettin's good.

Despite playing since launch, I only have 3 50s. I do, however, have a ton of alts, remade all my villain characters when they increased the number of character slots per account (my husband and I got rid of our second accounts then), and I really just haven't played as much as I used to between getting married and having a baby in the last few years. Even worse, I plan on getting rid of at least one of them with a second version of the character with a powerset I think makes more sense.

Ravenbane - DM/SR/Dark Scrapper. My vampire heroine who's paired with my husbands vampire hero that's DM/Regen/Dark. We wrote a detailed mythos for their type of vampirism and everything. We got them to 50 back in March 2005, long before Willpower came on the scene. WP is a much more fitting set for them, so there are secondary versions of them that are currently level 36 that we'll be replacing the 50s with eventually.

Galacto Girl - Energy/Energy/Force Blaster. My spunky teenage sidekick to my husband's Invuln/Energy/Energy tanker. GG was orphaned in the Rikti war and was adopted by Captain Galacto when a mishap caused her to gain a variation of his powers. Her powersets are absolutely perfect and she isn't going anywhere!

Psycharisma - Kin/Psy/Psy Defender. She is a powerful telekinetic/telepath/supergenius whose mutation arose from her hippie parents' "mind expanding" experimentation prior to her conception. I've always known Force Field was truly a more fitting primary for her, but it didn't interest me at ALL for the longest time. I've now got a baby FF/Psy version of her waiting to be levelled. I LOVE Kinetics and I think I'm going to make another character to play it again to its fullest (and use Kin instead of a travel power), but I don't know what to do with it yet.

Honorable mentions:
Tephra Fire - Fire/Stone/Pyre Tanker. Tephra is an avatar of the Hawaiian volcano goddess Pele. She is level 49 1/2 and will hit 50 before the end of the year. She has a serious attitude but she's damn sexy, too.

La Belladonna - Ill/Rad/Primal Forces. Bella is distantly related to a major villain in CoH canon. Her villainous family shares his last name and often uses it to promote their own interests. When her weak light manipulation mutation manifested when she was a tween, her parents and their allies took her and spent the next several years subjecting her to experiments and treatments to turn her into their own personal weapon, and they succeeded. Bella is genuinely a kind and compassionate person, but fear of further abuse forced her to be subservient to her parents and she reluctantly performed the criminal acts they commanded her to do. Eventually, she snapped and unintentionally blasted her family with blinding light and radiation. While they were still incapacitated, she stole whatever money she could find and fled to Paragon, adopting a new name and identity. She is a hair away from 46 (and would be higher but I turned off her XP to earn her some more influence for IOs).

What a cutie! Did her brown hair fall out as a baby then grow back in blonde?

Ravenfang:

Level 1


Level 10, from about 2 weeks ago.


They grow up so fast!

Awww!

Ice/Storm or Ice/Cold?

I asked this on the Controller forum as well but I'd like input from the other side. My first 50 was my main DM/SR scrapper but she got to 50 before they were done with nerfs and ED and I'm out of the loop as far as leveling an SR scrapper now-a-days really goes.
My husband and I make duos of just about all of our characters, one of which is the aforementioned DB/SR scrapper and my Ice controller. She is currently Ice/Storm, but I am considering remaking her as Ice/Cold. I have rerolled her a few times already, so I don't want to make a mistake in rerolling her again.

Would you rather have the heal early on, the larger array of soft controls, and the -acc in Hurricane that you get with Storm? Or would you rather have the +HP/heal from Frostwork, the strong single-target debuffs, and the shields to stack with your secondary (would this be overkill after a point?) that you get with Cold?

Thanks.

My husband and I make duos of just about all of our characters, one of which is the aforementioned DB/SR scrapper and my Ice controller. She is currently Ice/Storm, but I am considering remaking her as Ice/Cold. I have rerolled her a few times already (she was Ice/Storm, then I decided to make her a Storm/Ice defender, but missed the control and switched back to Ice/Storm), so I don't want to make a mistake in rerolling her again.

Either would fit her concept, but I'm not sure which is a better fit for pairing with the scrapper. With Storm, I'd like having the array of additional soft control and debuffs. I also like getting a heal to help out the scrapper early on, before SR really blossoms, and the accuracy debuffing in Hurricane could help as well. I know there are some really strong debuffs in /Cold that would also really contribute, and Heat Loss offers more -resistance (though I'm not sure how significant) than /Storm has... since DB is all lethal damage, I figure this is significant. Frostwork's +HP would be nice as well. I also know the shields could help the scrapper's defense, but I'm also thinking that will be redundant after a certain point, since the two together might exceed the defense cap. Is that right?

Which would you pick and why? Thanks.

I offered to make my husband an IO build for his level 50 Invuln/EM tanker. We haven't played in awhile and he reached 50 with his tanker a LONG time ago, and I'm more IO-savvy than he is. He said his biggest desire with IOs for his tanker is greater survivability, and this looks like the way to do it. Great guide! I can't wait to try it out!

The 2.0 version of my main (level 50 DM/SR) is DM/WP, and I LOVE the set (and it's a much better fit for her concept). WP would be a good fit (though I think Regen or Invuln straight up would be better), but I also don't like repeating sets.

Westley, I read your guide already and found it very helpful! I intend on referencing it when I actually work out her slotting. The problem is I don't want to take the entire set so I'm trying to figure out what might be expendable. []

(Crap! The boards just ate my post and I was almost done! Let's try this again...)

I have a level 50 Kin/Psy/Psy Defender that I'd like to reincarnate as FF/Psy/Psy. FF is actually a better fit for her concept but I never thought I'd enjoy the set. However, it's appealing to me more and more and I'd like to give it a shot. That said, I'm having some problem with power selection. Since, with FF, I willl need Stamina (which I didn't have with the Kin/Psy thanks to Transference), I have a few less power choices that I had with the Kin/Psy. I enjoy playing this character as a "Defentroller" so I'd like to take the majority of the Psy APP and I like all the secondary effects of the Psy Blast set.

Here is my tentative build. I can figure out the slotting and IOs myself, so what I'm really looking for help with is what powers to take and when. I will list my primary concerns at the bottom.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Psycharisma: Level 48 Mutation Defender
Primary Power Set: Force Field
Secondary Power Set: Psychic Blast
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Ancillary Pool: Psychic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Personal Force Field -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Mental Blast -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Deflection Shield -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Subdue -- Empty(A)
Level 6: Fly -- Empty(A)
Level 8: Insulation Shield -- Empty(A)
Level 10: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 12: Dispersion Bubble -- Empty(A)
Level 14: Health -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Psychic Scream -- Empty(A)
Level 18: Telekinetic Blast -- Empty(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- Empty(A)
Level 22: Will Domination -- Empty(A)
Level 24: Psionic Lance -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Repulsion Bomb -- Empty(A)
Level 28: Detention Field -- Empty(A)
Level 30: Force Bolt -- Empty(A)
Level 32: Force Bubble -- Empty(A)
Level 35: Psionic Tornado -- Empty(A)
Level 38: Psychic Wail -- Empty(A)
Level 41: Mass Hypnosis -- Empty(A)
Level 44: Mind Over Body -- Empty(A)
Level 47: Dominate -- Empty(A)
Level 49: Telekinesis -- Empty(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance

Here are the big things I'm struggling with (in no particular order):

1a. I skipped Repulsion Field because it makes me think of Repel in Kin, which I never took because it's an end-suck and pisses other players off. Is there anything else skippable in FF? I have flavor/concept reasons to take everything I did, but I don't know if they're all as useful as they seem.

1b. I feel like it might be redundant to take Force Bubble and TK. Is that right? If so, I assume FB is the better choice if for no other reason than it's available to me 15 levels before TK. Correct?

2. I'm torn between Subdue and Scramble Thoughts (I'd like to take every other power in the set... I love Psy Blast). With the Kin I skipped Subdue because, thanks to Siphon Speed, Siphon Power, and Fulcrum Shift, I had enough damage and a fast enough attack chain with my other blasts that I felt like it wasn't necessary, plus I liked the harder control of the Stun over the Immobilize. That said, since I'm missing those boosts from Kin with this version, I think I might want Subdue instead, especially if I can throw a hold or stun proc from Devastation or Debilitative Action and make it harder control power. Thoughts?

The only other thing I'm debating skipping from my secondary is Psionic Tornado. I've always enjoyed it before, and I'd like having the AoE and the Knockdown, but I feel like it's more expendable than some of the other powers in the set. I'd prefer to keep it, though.

3. Since I have the 60 month Veteran reward, I can opt to take Fly at level 6 without either of the prerequisite powers in the pool. That said, I'm still debating taking Hover if I can fit it, as a more combat-friendly travel power, thanks to it's reduced end cost compared to fly. Good idea/bad idea?

I think that's it. Thanks, folks.